January 22, 2023 - The Way of God's Will
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There are currently about 8 Billion people on this planet...
85% of that 8 Billion claim some sort of religion.
Which means - 6.8 Billion people claim to be religious...
Would probably claim to have ACCESS to God.
If we think back to one of the most horrific tragedies in our country...
9/11 - we know that those flying those planes that day...
BELIEVED that they were doing GOD a favor...
2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.
We read this - and we filter what we see in life - THROUGH this text...
And it’s pretty astonishing to think that we’ve literally seen this verse play itself out in our lives...
Today - just like last week - we’re going to look at Saul and David - and in doing so we’ll see 2 sides of life.
One side - WITH GOD
The OTHER side - WITHOUT God
Our text today will pretty much cover 2 chapters - but let’s first get a HIGH LEVEL view of what’s going on in the story...
Saul had just killed the 85 priests at NOB...
And just laid to WASTE - the entire city and all its inhabitants...
So we pick up from there...
1 Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.”
2 Therefore David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
3 But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”
4 Then David inquired of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”
5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
6 When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand.
7 Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.”
8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
9 David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”
10 Then David said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account.
11 Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O Lord, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.”
12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will surrender you.”
13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition.
14 And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.
15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.
From here we see Saul CONTINUE to pursue David...
And WHILE He was doing so - the Philistines…TAKE ADVANTAGE...
While Saul is busy chasing David - this happens...
27 a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.”
David then makes his way into some CAVES - and this happens...
2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks.
3 And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.
4 And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’ ” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
5 And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.”
7 So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.
8 Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage.
9 And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’?
10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’
11 See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it.
12 May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.
13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you.
14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea!
15 May the Lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”
Today we’ll see a contrast between Saul and David - and how GOD fit between them.
We mentioned earlier that what we’ll see today - is...
LIFE WITH GOD
LIFE WITHOUT GOD
We know that at this point in Saul’s life - God was NOT WALKING with Saul...
The Bible tells us that God had departed FROM him...
12 Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.
And so let’s circle back to our passage today to see our first point!
2 Therefore David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
SLIDE: The Way of God’s Will: Leads Us By His Word
The Way of God’s Will
The Way of God’s Will
Here we see it was the WORD of God - that LED David.
David consulted God - BEFORE he made a move...
back to v2
2 Therefore David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
David INQUIRED of the Lord...
And it was - THE WORD that directed his path!
And it’s ALWAYS been about the WORD of God…has it not?
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The word of God CREATED the universe
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
How did he do it?
Genesis chapter 1 - -
Verses 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24...
And God SAID...
His WORD created what it commanded!
This is how God works - it’s the POWER of His word!
And it has an EFFECT on us - that we experience EVERY DAY....
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
It’s the WORD of God that KEEPS this universe moving along...
THAT’S - OUT there...
On a more personal level...
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
WOW - so EVEN the faith to BELIEVE comes through the WORD of Christ...
In other words - LIFE itself COMES through the Word of Christ...
And we see this in scripture -
If you remember - one of Jesus’ friends - Lazarus - passed away…
And Jesus goes to the tomb and does this...
41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
So LIFE came - at the WORD of Christ!
His command “COME OUT”....created life!
His WORD - created what it commanded!
But EVEN in this - the WORD of Christ goes further than JUST SAVE us…!
4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
Every WORD that comes out of the mouth of God!!
Jesus is saying - Man shall not live by PHYSICAL FOOD alone!!
But by the Spiritual FOOD of God’s word!!
And so we can SEE how God’s WORD LEADS US through this life...
Back to our text...
2 Therefore David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
The Lord said - GO and ATTACK the Philistines!
Very SPECIFIC instructions here!!
God literally told David - WHERE to STEP!!
*How often in LIFE do you wish God would open up the CLOUDS - and REACH DOWN to earth - and say - HEY - STEP HERE!! and DO THIS!!
Well - He DID THAT for David back then...
David asked - Should I go FIGHT THEM?
God responded - YES - GO fight them!
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
TODAY - God LEADS US - how?
Thru His WORD!
So YES - there ARE cases in life where God DOES tell us SPECIFICALLY what to do!
And we FIND those answers - IN HIS WORD!
Should I - LIE on my taxes or NOT LIE on my taxes.
God TELLS US - specifically
Should I - RESPOND THIS WAY or THAT way to that person?
God TELLS us - Would YOU want someone to respond that way to you? NO - then don’t respond that way!
Should I - continue to neglect fellowshipping with the Saints?
God TELLS us - NO - you need to engage the body you claim to belong to!
And so - YES - in certain situations - God HAS TOLD us exactly what to do!
HIS WORD - leads us through life!
His WORD - IS our life!
But what about the FLIP SIDE?
In our text today - we see God’s WORD LEADING David thru life...
David WALKED with God…
The LORD was WITH David - but the Lord was NOT with - Saul!
And so when it came to WALKING with God…Saul was not one to follow.
12 Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.
Saul had repeatedly DISOBEYED God and did his own thing… (prostituted out his trust and obedience)
We talked a couple weeks ago how that created a separation between God and Saul...
37 And Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?” But he did not answer him that day.
Notice that this is the SAME question that David asked of God in our text today!
In our text today - God ANSWERED David...
God DID NOT answer Saul here!
Now - Many times in life you may feel like God hasn’t ANSWERED you...
There are MANY situations (probably MOST) - where we can’t go to a verse to find the next STEP TO TAKE...
And so - for a lot of us - we can spend a lot of our LIVES - WORRIED that we might make the wrong decision!
Who’s thought that??
I THINK - we THINK - this a lot - - I DON'T know what I should do!
I just want to do what God WANTS me to do - But i don't know what that is...
AND I THINK - we may actually OVER THINK these things too much!
Here's why....
If you have a decision to make in your life...
Should I date this person or NOT date this person?
Should I marry this person or NOT marry this person?
Should I take that job, or this job?
Should I leave my job or NOT leave my job?
Should I talk to that person, or NOT talk to that person?
Should I move to this city, or that city?
Should I go back to school or NOT go back to school?
All of these questions ACTUALLY HAVE the exact same answer....
Here's the answer - If you are seeking after Christ in your life...
If you're actively pursuing Jesus, living for His glory...
Active in prayer
Pursuing a deeper knowledge of Him in His word...
Engaged with the people of God...for the GLORY of God...
THEN the answer TO ALL OF THOSE QUESTIONS is this...
Do whatever YOU WANT to DO!
Why is THAT the answer?
Because - as the verse says
4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Delight yourself in the Lord....and HE WILL GIVE YOU - the desires of your heart!
If you're pursuing Christ - then the desires you have - WILL BE Christ's DESIRES....Meaning - your desires will reflect Christ's desires...
In which case - YOU SHOULD ACT on THOSE DESIRES....DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO...
Because whatever you WANT to do - will be what Christ would do!
You will have the same desires AS Jesus - - ...but that ONLY happens when we PURSUE Christ IN HIS WORD!
DAVID sought the LORD for help…and God responded!
Not only does God LEAD us through life… but as we’ve just seen...
SLIDE: The Way of God’s Will: Guides Us By His Word
The Way of God’s Will
The Way of God’s Will
I’m differentiating here - between God LEADING us and God GUIDING us...
Because - in our text - we see both
We just saw how God SPECIFICALLY TOLD David to Go and fight the Philistines...
a VERY detailed - response from God...
But we also see God GUIDE David as well...
David had gone to the city of Keilah because God had commanded him to...
BUT THEN David realized that Saul was plotting to come there to kill him...
9 David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”
10 Then David said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account.
11 Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O Lord, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.”
12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will surrender you.”
Here we see David simply asking God if CERTAIN THINGS would happen...
And God responded - NOT BY TELLING David what to do...
but simply GUIDING David in telling what would happen should he make certain decisions.
This goes back to us not always finding DIRECT answers in scripture to our dilemmas or situations...
BUT - instead finding GUIDELINES that can help us make a decision.
Take FOR INSTANCE - the Psalm we JUST read!
4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Again - DAVID sought the LORD’s help - and God responded!
His WORD - the GUIDELINE for David...
And a GUIDELINE for us...
6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
His WORD - the GUIDELINE for David...
And a GUIDELINE for us...
But what about the FLIP SIDE?
Let’s look at Saul in our text...
6 When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand.
7 Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.”
I think we can really pull something from this today.
Anything jump out at you from this text?
Saul is told that David fled to Keilah...
How does Saul INTERPRET that?
v7 - And SAUL SAID - God has GIVEN him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.
Here’s how I think this would have been spoken today -
“God has given me a word....”
“God wanted me to tell you...”
We need to be VERY careful what we place God’s NAME on...
Here - in this text - Saul was RECKLESS with the name of God!
NOW - don’t forget - Saul was a man who was LITERALLY ANOINTED by GOD - thru Samuel - to be king!
If anyone could have said - GOD TOLD ME TO… - it was Saul.
But here - SAUL was reckless with the name of God!
He declares.... “God has given David into my hand...”
NOW - was that true?
NO - actually - the OPPOSITE was true!!
Saul thought God was WORKING FOR HIM....
AND actually - God was working FOR DAVID...
And so I just hope that we be careful - when we throw around phrases like -
I received a word from the Lord...
I got a word for you today...
**Now I believe that the Holy Spirit - WORKS in us…LEADS us to SAY things to people - to DO things FOR people...
But when we start taking God’s name - and we start CLAIMING that God TOLD US SOMETHING...
[wide-eyes]
Now you might be thinking - Well Mike - what if what I’m saying is a GOOD thing and what if what I’m doing is a GOOD thing...
CLEARLY the devil wouldn’t be BEHIND THAT!!
My response to that is this...
6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
Paul went [HERE] = HAVING BEEN FORBIDDEN - by the Holy Spirit - from speaking the GOSPEL in Asia...
What if Paul had gone and PREACHED the gospel in Asia? (is that a GOOD thing?)
Here’s what that would have been:
SLIDE:
Preaching the gospel outside of God’s will
This is what THAT would have been...
QUESTION: What would Samuel had thought about that?
Samuel would have ran up to Paul and said the SAME THING to him that he said to SAUL...
13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
Listen - Even the gospel preached - outside of God’s will - is disobedience...
And all this TO SAY - Saul - in our text - THOUGHT that God was working FOR HIM....
And we KNOW HE WAS WRONG!
BUT - look where Saul takes this thing!
7 Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.”
8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
In SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE - Saul - who claimed he had a WORD from the Lord… Because of THAT...
Calls ALL the people to WAR - to go to Keilah!
And in DOING SO - Saul actually WARRED against the will of God!
Listen - THIS (the Bible) - - is the WORD of God - And God’s WILL - is - AT EVERY MOMENT - in LOCK-STEP with His WORD!!
THIS WORD!
WE - are fallible - WE make mistakes…As spiritual as we THINK we are...
BUT THIS - [the Bible] is INFALLIBLE!
It is our GUIDE - it GUIDES us through life...
But not only that...
SLIDE: The Way of God’s Will: Blesses Us By His Word
The Way of God’s Will
The Way of God’s Will
So not only does the Will of God:
LEAD us…by His word
GUIDE us…by His word
But it also - BLESSES us by His word!!
And we can clearly see this in our text!
14 And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.
From here we saw how David fled from Saul into some caves…and Saul followed...
1 When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.”
2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks.
3 And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.
4 And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’ ” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
5 And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.”
7 So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.
8 Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage.
9 And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’?
10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’
11 See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it.
12 May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.
13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you.
14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea!
15 May the Lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.”
Now we might think -
God BLESSED David by bringing Saul INTO the cave, so David could TAKE HIM OUT!
But that WOULDN’T have been the blessing!
The blessing of God toward DAVID was that God gave DAVID the STRENGTH to RESIST killing Saul - the man who was trying to KILL HIM!
And the BLESSING of God - toward SAUL (by extension of David’s obedience)…was not just that SAUL’s life was spared...
BUT - that Saul REALIZED that the LORD had spared him...
How did Saul respond to David?
17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil.
Saul equates David NOT KILLING HIM - with being - righteous.
Saul knew the LORD dealt with him - LIGHTLY...
And so THAT allowed Saul to REALIZE that God had NOT been working FOR him...
But that he had been working AGAINST God…!
What a blessing that is - For God to AWAKEN us to REALIZE that we’re ON THE WRONG path!
David was blessed this day…!
Saul was blessed this day!
*How about you?
Have you recognized at times - that maybe you THOUGHT you and God were on the same page - ONLY TO realize that you WEREN’T!??
WHATEVER IT TOOK - for you to realize you weren’t on the same page with God - WAS THE BLESSING!
And so - if it was...
a loss of a job
a failed relationship
a very embarrassing moment
WHATEVER it WAS...
Even a lost loved one...
When we look back - whatever brings us TO GOD...
Is a blessing!
SUMMARY
The Way of God’s Will
Leads Us By His Word
Guides Us By His Word
Blesses Us By His Word
Leads us:
God says - Step here! Do this! Don’t DO that!
Guides us:
God says - Men, be on guard.
Guard your heart
pursue righteousness (HOWEVER that looks for you)
Seek FIRST the Kingdom…and life will GO WELL for you (yes, you might die, but if you’re SEEKING His kingdom FIRST, then dying will be a BLESSING!)
Blesses us:
God blesses those who SEEK HIM!!
When DYING is GAIN (as God says it is) - then think of how that helps us to PROPERLY define (BLESSING).
And how FREEING that is!!
Let’s pray!